The Folk Creativity Centre located in the Culture and Creativity Multipurpose Space (the Larnaka Club-Mattei House)
The Folk Creativity Centre operates at the Culture and Creativity Multipurpose Space. The Cyprus Arts and Crafts Service, the Municipalities of Lefkara, Athienou and Livadia, as well asthe ceramic workshop are represented in this Centre.
Visitors can watch live the production and creation of folk arts and crafts, such as the Lefkara lace (embroidery), the Athienou lace, the art of basket weaving of Livadia and other kinds of art which are intertwined with the cultural heritage of the town and the district of Larnaka.
The working hours of the Centre are from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, from Monday to Saturday.
It is noted that the building is one of the landmarks of Larnaka and linked to the history of the town. It is estimated that it was constructed in the second half of the 18th century and it was initially used as the residence of the Mattei family. This was a family of rich and noble land-owners of Italian and Latin descent in Cyprus. With the arrival of the British in 1878,the building was transformed intoa Club for Public Officials and Military Officers. In the garden of this building, the first tennis court ever made in Cyprus was constructed. After 1960 it changed its name from the “English Club” into the “Larnaka Club”. In 1974, for around one year, it hosted families of Cypriot refugees. The building is a Turkish-Cypriot property and nowadays it is leased by the Municipality of Larnaka.
